Social Interaction Hub

• US 20110119596A1
• Filed: 10/28/2010
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Sharkey, Jeffrey A., Hamilton, Jeffrey W., Plotnikov, Dmitri, Nesladek, Christopher D., Phukan, Prasenjit
• Application Number:
  US12/914,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20110119596A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/739
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/265 constructional aspects of navigation devices, e.g. housings, mountings, displays G01C21/3688 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3661 Guidance output on an external device, e.g. car radio
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 : with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Hubs for social interaction via electronic devices are described. In one aspect, a data processing device includes a display screen displaying a social interaction hub, the social interaction hub including a collection of records. Each record includes a counterparty identifier identifying a counterparty of a past social interaction event, a mode indicium identifying a mode by which the past social interaction event with the counterparty occurred, and a collection of mode indicia each identifying a mode by which a future, outgoing social interaction event with the counterparty can occur. The counterparty identifier, the mode indicium, and the collection of mode indicia are associated with one another in the records of the social interaction hub.

Claims

1. A data processing device comprising:

a display screen displaying a social interaction hub, the social interaction hub including a collection of records each including

a counterparty identifier identifying a counterparty of a past social interaction event,

a mode indicium identifying a mode by which the past social interaction event with the counterparty occurred, and

a collection of mode indicia each identifying a mode by which a future, outgoing social interaction event with the counterparty can occur,

wherein the counterparty identifier, the mode indicium, and the collection of mode indicia are associated with one another in the records of the social interaction hub.

2. The data processing device of claim 1, wherein the collection of mode indicia is limited to modes of social interaction that are available for social interaction with the counterparty.

3. The data processing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the records further comprises an availability indicator labeling a first mode indicium in the collection of mode indicia, the availability indicator indicating that the counterparty is presently available for social interaction via the mode identified by the first mode indicium.

4. A data processing device comprising:

a display screen;

one more data storage devices storing a database of integrated contact information and account information,

the contact information including contact identifiers that each identifies a potential counterparty for social interaction, and

the account information including a first record characterizing a first representation of a first of the potential counterparties at a first account provided by a first entity that mediates social interaction and a second record characterizing a second representation of the first of the potential counterparties at a second account provided by a second entity that mediates social interaction,

wherein the first and second records characterizing the first and second representations each includes data drawn from the respective of the first and second entities and are dispersed among other records characterizing other representations of others of the potential counterparties; and

one or more data processors programmed to

access the database of integrated contact information and identify the first and second records using the identifier of the at least one potential counterparty and

display, at the same time on the display screen, a first graphical element indicating that outgoing social interaction mediated by the first entity is available and a second graphical element indicating that outgoing social interaction mediated by the second entity is available.

5. The data processing device of claim 4, wherein the database comprises an row in a data table comprising an identifier of the category of the first account, wherein the identifier is selected from the group consisting of an identifier of a social network account and an identifier of a photo sharing network account.

6. The data processing device of claim 4, wherein the data processors are also programmed to implement:

a first interface module for interfacing with the first entity to obtain information characterizing the first of the potential counterparties from the first entity; and

a second interface module for interfacing with the second entity to obtain information characterizing the first of the potential counterparties from the second entity.

7. The data processing device of claim 6, wherein:

the first entity comprises a social network server; and

the first interface module is configured to excerpt a post by the at least one of the potential counterparties available on the social network server.

8. The data processing device of claim 4, wherein:

the display screen is a touch screen; and

the first and second graphical elements are interactive elements displayed on the touch screen;

the one or more data processors are programmed to detect user interaction with a selected one of the first and second graphical elements and trigger the outgoing social interaction indicated by the selected one of the first and second graphical elements in response to the user interaction.

9. The data processing device of claim 4, wherein a social interaction hub displayed on the display screen includes the graphical elements indicating that outgoing social interaction mediated by the first and second entity is available.

10. The data processing device of claim 4, wherein the data processing device is a handheld device that comprises a phone interface.

11. A data processing device comprising:

a display screen;

one more data storage devices storing account information including

a first record characterizing a first representation of an individual at a first account at a first entity that mediates social interaction,

first status update information characterizing a first status update drawn from the first account, the first status update information including a characterization of the updated first status and a characterization of the time when first status was updated,

a second record characterizing a second representation of the individual at a second account at a second entity that mediates social interaction, and

second status update information characterizing a second status update drawn from the second account, the second status update information including a characterization of the updated second status and a characterization of the time when the second status was updated,

one or more data processors programmed to

access the first and second representations of the individual and identify the characterizations of the times when the first and the second status were updated,

compare the times when the first and the second status were updated to determine the more recent of the first and the second status updates, and

display, on the display screen, the more recent of the first and the second status updates based on the comparison of the times when the first and the second status were updated.

12. The data processing device of claim 11, wherein the first record comprises an row in a data table comprising an identifier of the category of the first account, wherein the identifier is selected from the group consisting of an identifier of a social network account and an identifier of a photo sharing network account.

13. The data processing device of claim 11, wherein the one or more data processors is programmed to display the more recent status update in a social status record that comprises an identifier of the individual and a collection of indicia that identify modes by which a future outgoing social interaction event with the individual can occur.

14. The data processing device of claim 13, wherein the social status record further comprises a location description that describes either the present location of the individual.

15. The data processing device of claim 13, wherein the social status record further comprises an availability indicator that indicates that the individual is presently available for social interaction via one of the modes.

16. The data processing device of claim 11, wherein the first and second status update information is found in respective first and second status update records.

17. The data processing device of claim 11, wherein:

the first and second records are instantiated as first and second rows in a first data table; and

the first and second status update information is found in two different rows of a second data table, the rows of the second data table each referencing a respective one of the first and second rows in the first data table.

18. The data processing device of claim 11, wherein the one or more data processors are programmed to display the more recent status update on a display screen in a social interaction record that includes a visual indicium characterizing a social interaction event with the individual that has already occurred.

19. The data processing device of claim 18, wherein the social interaction record further comprising one or more visual indicia representing multiple modes by which a future, outgoing social interaction events with the individual can occur.

20. The data processing device of claim 19, wherein:

the display screen is a touch screen; and

the visual indicia representing multiple modes are interactive elements displayed on the touch screen;

the one or more data processors are programmed to detect user interaction with a selected one of the visual indicia representing multiple modes and trigger the outgoing social interaction represented by the selected one of the visual indicia in response to the user interaction.